The Pryor Predicament

Terrelle Pryor wants to leave the Oakland Raiders in order to become a starting quarterback. Read that sentence five times fast.

Who does he think he can walk in and be the starter for, the B.C. Lions? Maybe the Toronto Argonauts? Could we really be witnesses to the first NFL-CFL trade and would the Raiders get some maple syrup in the compensation package?

In all seriousness, Pryor does have a ton of potential and has an opportunity to develop into a starting NFL quarterback, just not at this current stage of his career. Wherever he goes next, one would hope that he would be given an opportunity to compete, however, that opportunity won’t be coming with the Raiders.

And to be perfectly honest, he was never given a fair chance from a Raiders regime that wasn’t named “Al Davis”. But like anything else in life, sometimes it just isn’t fair and you’re playing against a stacked deck. Dennis Allen never wanted Pryor, and to be honest, Pryor probably never wanted Dennis Allen, either.

The Raiders need to do Pryor right by trading him to an organization where he can be given a clean slate and a fresh start. The 49ers would have been a perfect landing spot for him before they traded for the one and only Blaine Gabbert, and the Panthers make a ton of sense considering Cam Newton’s ankle injury and the similarities to the offense, but, if Pryor is truly DESPERATE to really be a starting quarterback, there’s one place that should be at the top of the list, no matter how much of a death wish it might be.

I’m talking about the Cleveland Browns. You can open your eyes and breathe easy again.

In Cleveland, Pryor can join a new coaching staff and compete against the likes of Brian Hoyer and “Insert Rookie Quarterback Here That Will Probably Bust Since He Just Got Drafted By Cleveland” for the starting job. See, my CFL joke still makes sense because even in the depths of Cleveland, he wouldn’t be the sure fire starting QB.

I’ve asked some of the Raider Nation on Twitter what they believe Pryor is worth, and the consensus is, he’s worth between a 5th to a 6th round pick. For the Raiders, either would work great, maybe even throw in a conditional 2015 pick as well.

Either way, it’s time for the Raiders to turn the page and move on, and the longer the Pryor predicament continues, the more it will drag and become a distraction. Here’s hoping both sides can come to an amicable split in the near future.